Nimbasa City
by EnotsHaihai
Summary: Touya does not like visiting Nimbasa City. Not anymore at least. (No plot, slight angst? A very quickly written short oneshot.) N and Touya (Black) relationship heavily hinted at but not outright stated. Feels kinda one sided?


_So, full of mistakes. It's a quick thing because I feel awful. Because I am behind my final year undergraduate coursework. Just four weeks into the course. And so I did this. Does anyone have any tips about actually concentrating on their coursework? Thanks. I'll check this once again in the morning to see about the mistakes. Please bear in mind English is not my first language and sometimes it does not come as naturally as it should. PS. Enjoy. It has absolutely no plot._

* * *

Touya hated travelling through Nimbasa City. The lights were always too bright, the people always too happy for his tastes. Especially in the last eighteen months. He couldn't recall if he had similar views before - The Incident. His mother however decided she wanted to see him there. Pronto. Or else. So what other choice did he actually have? He had to pack, say goodbyes to the family that was letting him stay while he was looking for - nope, not thinking about that, especially not here - and departed for one of Nimbasa City's hotels his mother was booked in.

The only good grace and the only thing that kept him going was that the flight itself took a few hours. He could have arrived earlier. But why overwork his Pokemon partner when he didn't even want to hurry? So what if he stopped once along the way to rest. Or twice. Or three times. His mum wouldn't know anyway. She could guess. But that was it.

The hotel was nice though, definitely nicer than the places he usually stayed in. Although that standard is really not that high. Just few weeks ago, he slept in a cave for an entire week. Not by choice. He got lost.

The receptionist kept smiling sweetly at him as well, playing with her blonde hair as he filled out the form and checked himself in. That was also better than usual. Usually, people did not stare at him in a friendly way. No, it was usually pure, unadulterated awe he despised.

Speaking of which. One of the guests, a girl, no older than eight years old with brown hair in pigtails standing close to her parents, was staring at him in wonder. Or, as the case may be, on his belt with his Pokeballs. Thankfully, her parents took her away before she could utter the words he heard from kids (and adults!) more than often these days. " _Mister, can I see your Pokemon_?" Touya mostly blamed his Pokeballs. Unfortunately, his Masterball was not exactly inconspicuous. No, its bright colours usually attracted more attention than was healthy - for Touya at least.

And to continue with irritating news, his mum was not in her room as the hotel receptionist cheerily informed him after he received his keys. "Where is she then? Did she leave a message for me?" Because she _certainly_ did not bother to call him again after that morning disaster of a conversation.

(He just prayed she went to the theatre. He could pull a few strings there. People remember his Minccino's shows and still the directory called him from time to time to see if she could come back and perform in the latest role available.)

(Touya always said no.)

"Oh, yes, sir. She did." The receptionist informed him cheerily and left him hanging there, waiting for her to continue. He couldn't bring himself to shout at her, his social anxiety getting in the way. But with each passing second he felt like release of one of his Pokemon could untie the knot that she apparently had on her tongue.

Or worsen it.

You never knew.

"Yes?" he inquired, impatiently, and she made a show of looking for the message through a stock of her papers inconspicuously trying to quickly write something else down as well.

"Ah, here it is," she finally said and leaned over the counter with two pieces of paper with a soft smile on her lips. Touya quickly took them and tried to go as quickly as possible without looking like he was running. Just realising why the pretty receptionist seemed so weird. She was flirting with him.

And Touya was certainly not ready for the thoughts that came alongside that realisation. Still thinking about one person only. Person that he hasn't seen for a year and half. Person that he barely knew anyway. Knowing him for a few months on the road, always getting in their way, always curious, always -

He felt immensely guilty as he crumbled the phone number of _Aurora the Receptionist_ and threw it in the bin in his room. More guilt hit him as he realised he felt that way for entirely different reasons than he should be.

It was just his luck. His mum was exploring the park and wanted to visit the Ferris wheel.

"You know, this is an attraction for couples, usually," the cashier told them cheerily. His mum laughed. "Well, I don't have a gentleman, so my son gallantly volunteered himself." No, he certainly did not, mother. "Nice of him. So,... does that mean you would -" Touya frowned the exact way he did at Ghetsis when he finally pieced together the atrocities he put - _him_ \- through. The cashier quickly shut up and Touya reluctantly led his mum to the car.

"Oh, Touya, it was completely harmless, I would have said no," she smiled sadly at him and he rolled his eyes. She would say yes, she was that nice. He chose not to speak. He still felt like he was going to throw up at anytime during this long journey up and down.

It was already dark and someone in the park was shooting fireworks up to the sky. His mum studied every single thing she could from the heights of the Ferris wheel. Touya couldn't bring himself to actually look and see the same view. Halfway up, she finally noticed how sick he looked and she frowned, standing up and sitting down next to him.

For a while, they didn't speak, just sat there in silence as the firework outside created the prettiest flowers in all colours imaginable. Then, out of nowhere, she just whispered, "It's going to get better. With time. You'll see. There is no need to cry."

There was every reason for it.

A green firework flower blew up in the sky and then faded into nothing.

 _Especially as he didn't realise he actually started crying._


End file.
